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Recently, Illinois became the third state to pass a mandatory paid time off law called the “Paid Leave for All Workers Act” (the “Act”), which grants employees a minimum of 40 hours of paid time off per year for any reason. Only Nevada and Maine provide similarly sweeping mandatory paid leave. Governor Pritzker has indicated he will sign the legislation. This new law, which would be effective January 1, 2024, will have a major impact on the landscape of paid leave in Illinois. It affects nearly everyone, its uses are unlimited, and it comes with new reporting and record-keeping requirements, as well as civil penalties for non-compliance. Though employers may provide more generous paid leave than the Act requires, the Act sets the new minimum standard for paid time off across the state.…

Continue Reading Time to Update Your Policies: Illinois Passes Sweeping Paid Leave Legislation

In a prior article, we explained Senate Bill 95, which requires employers with more than 25 employees in California to provide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick leave.  You can read it here.  SB 95 creates California Labor Code Sections 248.2 and 248.3.  It goes into effect on March 29, 2021, and applies retroactively to January 1, 2021.  This new COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law allows covered employees to take up to an additional 80 hours of paid COVID-19 related sick leave.
Continue Reading Labor Commissioner Issues FAQs for Supplemental COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law

Beginning on March 29, 2021, Senate Bill 95 will place additional requirements on employers to provide supplemental paid sick leave to employees impacted by COVID-19.  The bill, which was approved by the legislature on March 18, 2021, and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 19, 2021, creates California Labor Code Sections 248.2 and 248.3.  SB 95 dramatically expands the number of employees eligible for COVID-19 paid sick leave, expands the reasons an employee may take paid sick leave, and applies retroactively to January 1, 2021, which will require some employers who previously granted employees unpaid leave for COVID-19 related reasons to retroactively compensate those employees.  Therefore, every employer in California should review SB 95 carefully.
Continue Reading California Enacts Expansive, Retroactive Supplemental COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law

The end of 2020 was not the end of the California Legislature’s focus on employment-related legislation.  Just two months into the new year, the Legislature has already introduced several bills addressing the workplace that could impact employers who still may be implementing coronavirus-related legislation.  This article discusses two such bills on the horizon that employers will want to follow as they work their way through the Legislature.
Continue Reading California Legislative Update: Employment-Related Bills on the Horizon

For much of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many California employees have utilized leave entitlements through federal, state, and local paid sick leave statutes and ordinances.  As of December 31, 2020, however, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), California’s COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (“CSPSL”) — and many local supplemental paid sick leaves (“LSPSL”) — have expired.  With coronavirus cases still surging nationwide and no additional guidance on the new exclusion pay requirements under the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (“Cal/OSHA”) COVID-19 emergency temporary standards (“ETS”), California employers are left wondering what paid leave laws may apply to their employees in 2021.
Continue Reading What the Expiration of COVID-19 Paid Leave Laws Means for California Employers

On January 1, 2021, various new and amended employment laws will go into effect in California. Below is a summary of some of these laws that employers should make themselves aware of heading into the new year.  All laws discussed in this post go into effect on January 1, 2021, unless otherwise noted.
Continue Reading New Employment Laws to Look Out for in 2021

The summer season is normally a time the children are off to summer camps, enrichment programs, or summer school sessions.  This year, however, employees are finding themselves without available childcare in the wake of continued widespread COVID-19-related closures.  As state and local governments vacillate between easing and increasing restrictions, normal summer programs may be unavailable, or if open, may be operating at significantly reduced capacities.
Continue Reading DOL Issues Guidance on FFCRA and Summer School/Camp Closures

Los Angeles County enacted an ordinance requiring employers with 500 or more employees nationally and that are not otherwise covered by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-51-20 to provide employees with supplemental paid sick leave for COVID-19 related reasons.  The City of Los Angeles previously passed a similar ordinance, but the County ordinance expands the coverage for supplemental paid sick leave to employees outside the City’s geographic boundaries. …
Continue Reading Los Angeles County Enacts Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Effective Immediately

On March 18, 2020, shortly after it was passed in the Senate by a vote of 90-8, President Trump signed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Act (the “Act”) into law.

There are two paid leave provisions of the Act that employers with fewer than 500 employees should be aware of: (1) the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act; and (2) the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.  The Act also provides, among other things, $1 billion in grants to states for emergency unemployment insurance and refundable tax credits for employers providing paid emergency sick leave or paid FMLA.  Further, for those who have been closely following the trajectory of this bill, it is worth noting that there are key differences as highlighted below between the original version of the bill passed by the House on March 14 and the final law, which are the result of several “corrections” that the House made to the bill on March 16 before sending it to the Senate.
Continue Reading What Employers Need to Know About the Newly-Enacted Families First Coronavirus Act

On March 14, 2020, the House of Representatives voted 363-40 to pass H.R. 6201: Families First Coronavirus Response Act—a relief package that, among other things, contains several provisions affecting employers.  The Senate has not yet scheduled a time to vote on the bill, although it is expected that a vote will occur this week.
Continue Reading What Employers Need to Know About H.R. 6201: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act

On February 17, 2017, D.C. passed the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016.  Beginning July 1, 2020, the law provides the following government-administered paid leave to D.C. employees:

  • Up to 8 weeks per year to bond with a new child.
  • Up to 6 weeks per year to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
  • Up to 2 weeks per year to care for the employee’s own serious health condition.

As the regulations continue to be finalized, several employer obligations have already started.  All D.C. employers should immediately ensure that they are in full compliance with this new law.
Continue Reading D.C. Paid Leave is Coming: Are you Ready?